Max Kellerman insists Kawhi Leonard is the best player in basketball, even ahead of LeBron James.#FirstTake✔ Subscribe to ESPN on BRclip: es.pn/SUBSCRIBEtoBRclip✔ Subscribe to ESPN FC on BRclip: bit.ly/SUBSCRIBEtoESPNFC✔ Subscribe to NBA on ESPN on BRclip: bit.ly/SUBSCRIBEtoNBAonESPN✔ Watch ESPN on BRclip TV: es.pn/BRclipTVExclusive interviews with Rachel Nichols urlzs.com/jNUReStephen A. Smith on ESPN urlzs.com/W19TzESPN on Social Media:► Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/espn► Like on Facebook: facebook.com/espn► Follow on Instagram: instagram.com/f/espnVisit ESPN on BRclip to get up-to-the-minute sports news coverage, scores, highlights and commentary for NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, College Football, NCAA Basketball, soccer and more. More on ESPN.com: www.espn.com

So no team has ever been up 20 points on the warriors and now one game determines the best player in the world but lebron was 1-8 Over the last 2 years and kd averaged 35 in a finals this man said lebron was still MVP of the finals,Kawhi did a great job on lebron to win mvp Kawhi averaged 17 pts lebron averages 28..Kd needs to lead a team he took a team to finals they lost but he averaged 30 and he admitted u can never win a championship with westbrook and harden is known for choking.. he picked the bucks to win even if kd plays but if he wins another finals mvp it doesn't count this dude is a clown now Kawhi is great at setting up teammates because he had a career high 9 assists he just had 1 the game before smh...

I think Kawhi has certainly been outplaying everyone else in these play-offs so far and would currently have my vote for best player in the world. BUT this series vs the Bucks is not over yet and if Milwaukee can turn it around and win in seven then the narrative would completely shift... I think it's too early to declare a best player in the world right now as all of the contenders are currently making their arguments

Yessss Stephen A! Thank you for finally bringing up the 2016 WCSF, all these guys like Max will use the history books to bring up the first half of the first game of a WCF series to say KD is nowhere near as good as Kawhi but then these same people never bring up the 2016 WCSF where both teams were fully healthy and KD beat Kawhi in 6 despite Kawhi having the better team and home court and were the favorites

Max has been saying all year that the Greek Freak is the best player in the world. He’s now arguing Kawhi is the best. The guy is flip flopping like a fish! At least SAS is consistent who has been saying that a KD is the best in the world.

Colorism at it's finest. I bet you that if Curry was dark skinned and had a muscular build and put up the exact same numbers as he has been, then he would automatically be considered the best player. It's funny how our eyes play tricks on us.

Nope the Spurs were neck and neck with the Warriors that year they won 67 games. The reason they lost had nothing to do with an aging squad they lost because Kawhi failed to show up in games 2,4,5 and 6.

Steph is putting up better numbers than kawhi but you dismiss him as the best player in the world. Why? He has shown they don’t need kd and frankly they play better without him. Steph has been averaging 36, 8, and 8. Stop overlooking steph as the best player in the world. It’s fine though because steph is going to destroy kawhi in the finals and will be called the best player in the world like he rightly deserves to.

Toronto will be fine as long as Stephen A keeps disparaging them. Stephen A approval or vote of support = Kiss of Death! All Toronto fans can hope for is that SAS doesn't jump on the bandwagon. SAS is more of a curse than Drake.

Since when in 2019 has LeBron been the best player lol he’s a superstar but the best? Not anymore, his reign at the top was over to Harden(he was in the 30 straight 30+ppg), then Giannis took over.Playoffs started. KD, then Lillard for a lil bit, and now Kawhi is the best

If Kawhi has led them to 3-0 since he's been guarding Giannis is not the best player, who is? 92% from the line, very good handles, strong as an ox, very athletic, very cool under pressure, disruptive on defense, getting assist as a creator, key rebounds, key 3 pointers, key steals and blocks. Come on people recognize the best player on the planet.

I hope KD comes back into the finals. And I hope the Raptors make the finals. I want to see how KD is going to play against arguably the best defender in the NBA. If Kawhi can lock up KD and continue to put up his numbers, even if he loses, he still proves that he is the best player in the world. It’ll be like the 2018 nba finals all over again

People aren't willing to put Kawhi at the top with everyone being so used to Lebron and KD being the best...guess what time's change. People acting like Max is crazy and Kawhi's not even in the conversation are ridiculous

I'm not even gonna mention all the nerdy analytical stuff like win share and stuff that favors Curry.

I refuse to allow the media to shape my opinion when my eyeballs and the numbers tell me I'd rather have curry.

Don't let the defense thing fool you. Fact.. Every basketball player sucks at defense in principal. That's why you've never seen in your life a 0-3 final score. Every team scores over 100 on average. Some players suck slightly less than others.

But when you talk about overall impact on a team and actual wins, Steph Curry is the best player in the world. It's proven.

"hE's nEver wOn a fiNals mVp". Well guess what, Kobe bryant didn't win a finals MVP untill after his 6th finals. Let Curry's career play out.

"hE cHoked iN tHE FINals". Every NBA super star worth his weight in gold has had bad playoff games, bad finals games, including MJ!!! I can name about 10 NBA finals games that Jordan didn't play well at all. Don't get me started on Kobe Bryant. His game 7 of the 2010 finals was pretty bad although he knocked down some important free throws when it counted.

Giannis is not even qualified to be in this discussion as he's accomplished nothing as of yet.

If Kawhi can reach the finals this year he has surpassed Kevin Durant and on Lebrons level he wouldve reached the finals with 2 different teams in 2 different conferences Literally carrying the Raptors with the next best player being Kyle Lowry if he can beat the Warriors or even get it to 7 he would definitely be considered better than LeBron James

No, Giannis is still the best because nobody can do all the things he does to impact a game. Leonard cannot rebound or dominate the paint. He's not even as good of a ball handler. And not a rim protector, he's strictly a perimeter defender. The Bucks are losing because their shooters and shooting bricks.

Stephen A is a fucking hack. Basically explained why he is the best right now. Leanord shut down the Greek freak who previously never had any fucking problems getting to the paint. They steam rolled every team in the playoffs too and now are losing bc of leanord.